College of Sciences and Technology

CST Teaching and Learning Showcase 2005

Group Works Poster Abstracts

Perceptions of group work from first to third year in computer science: do things get better?
Helen Drury, Learning Centre, Judy Kay, School of Information Technologies, Warren Losberg, Yooroang Garang, School of Indigenous Studies
Helen Drury

Group work is an increasingly important activity in university courses not only in terms of perceived learning benefits but also in terms of social and interpersonal development. In addition, group work skills are among the most important generic attributes students should develop as preparation for the world of work. This is especially true for computer science students where teamwork is widespread in the professional community. However, teaching that involves group work is challenging and it is important to support student learning of group skills, to develop instruments for evaluating this aspect of teaching and to measure student development in group work skill as well as student perceptions of their group work experiences. This poster summarises findings of a survey of third year students some of whom we initially surveyed during their experience of group work in first year computer science (more detailed report given recently at HERDSA 2005). We have adopted a comparative and developmental analysis of this data to highlight how students grapple with the process of group work as they progress through the undergraduate years and to identify what they perceive as incentives for engaging in group work. As expected some of the problems inherent in group work, such as division of labour, remain in third year but students appear to develop successful interpersonal strategies to deliver a group outcome.

Diverse Assessment Methods in Group Work Settings
T.A.G. Langrish and H. See, Faculty of Engineering
Tim Langish

We are evaluating a range of assessment styles in group-based project work that include diversity in assessment as a way of accommodating different student perceptions of teaching and learning. Interviews, quizzes, group written project reports, confidential self and peer-assessments, and a final examination have been used so far in a second-year unit of study in chemical engineering that is based on problem-based learning. The projects include recommending the best type of artificial heart, the selection of a factory processing and producing skim-milk powder, and the overall design and selection of a soap and cosmetics factory. Students have engaged extremely well and enthusiastically with the project work, with some concerns over workload. Individually-written projects and presentations are being considered, as is revising the timetable to break up long teaching periods.

Adaptive Visualisation Support for Self-managed Learning Groups
Chris Collins, School of Information Technologies; Peter Goodyear, School of Development and Learning; Judy Kay, School of Information Technologies; Nicolas Maisonneuve, Peter Reimann, School of Development and Learning; Miriam Weinel, Faculty of Education and Social Work; and Kalina Yacef, School of Information Technologies
Judy Kay

There is widespread group work in higher education: this reflects both the importance of group work in the workplace as well as the value of group work for supporting learning. We are working to create improved support for group work, both by exploiting software that can help groups manage their activities and an additional layer of software tools that we are developing to help groups improve their skills in working in groups.

There are many challenges in learning to work in groups, including, for example, developing common understandings and communicating effectively. This project involves a combination of tools for computer-based support for group work with new tools for capturing information about group interaction and the amount of activity by each team member in a group.

Our poster will present some early results of our work. We will describe our use of software tools, Trac and Subversion, for supporting a senior software project course. We will also indicate our planned use of the same approaches in the context of Education postgraduate coursework units. We will present examples of our novel visualisation tools which give succinct and clear summaries of both the total amount of work by individuals and the interaction between group members in allocation of work, discussion on the Trac WIKI and joint work on submissions to the Subversion repository of their work.

Long term impact of TIF integrated curriculum project
Rosanne Taylor, Nick Sangster, Grahame Feletti, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences
Rosanne Taylor

Students perceptions of the "old" year 3 BVSc program identified high workload, detailed content, inappropriate assessment and lack of clear relevance as major demotivating factors for learning. Clinical staff were concerned with the poor transfer of paraclinical and basic science knowledge and problem solving skills, necessitating "reteaching" of material in the clinical years.

This 2001 TIF project was undertaken to design and implement integrated components to support student centred learning activities in the new veterinary curriculum, focussed on one large new unit, Animal Disease. The project developed innovative student learning resources and staff skills in different approaches to teaching to create a substantial change in students learning experience.The aims were to:

• develop relevant, authentic and interesting case-based teaching and learning material,
• ensure alignment of learning outcomes and assessment to develop key Graduate Attributes,
• support student centred learning activities with high quality online resources.

Year 3 focus groups provided valuable feedback on all aspects of the new curriculum. Unit of study evaluations and SECQ surveys provided strong positive feedback on the continuing improvements in student experience of the year 3 units, particularly Animal Disease. The increasing use of case based learning in teams across Year 3 has led to substantial increases in perceptions of generic attributes, clear goals, teaching quality as well as assessment, leading to a sustained rise in students' satisfaction with year 3. Year 3 has made a radical change from the least to most popular year of the curriculum, while still retaining high levels of intellectual challenge and rigorous assessment standards.

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